Chapter Eighty-Nine: Yu Miaomiao

"My dear, today you are coming with your aunt to the palace!"

Early that morning, White Magnolia hauled Fortune Baby out of bed and dressed her up beautifully, though the two bright red patches on her cheeks were what on earth?

After fixing the little topknot on her head, she led the child out of the residence and into the carriage. Outside, the Dowager Lady Han and Han Zixuan had already been waiting for quite some time.

"Uh! Fortune Baby, are you going to a theater performance?" Han Zixuan was startled by the red blotches on the child’s chubby face.

So this was what Auntie had been working on for so long?

The Dowager Lady Han twitched at the corner of her mouth, a little helpless at her granddaughter-in-law’s sense of beauty. "All right, let’s be off at once."

"Yes!"

This time, Consort Shu, Han Wu, had fallen seriously ill, and the Dowager Lady Han found it very strange. The last time she entered the palace to see Han Wu, she had already felt an inexplicable chill there, as though it were not a place where the living ought to dwell. After returning home, she herself had then been struck by a severe illness.

A few days ago, Consort Yu had died, and now Consort Shu had fallen ill. No matter how she thought about it, something was deeply wrong.

"Hm? Fortune Baby, what are you holding in your arms?" Han Zixuan, sitting across from her, noticed the little box she was clutching. It was small, brightly colored, and not very big.

"This is a present I’m giving to Consort Shu." Fortune Baby patted the little box and said it proudly. This had been dug up by Little Ginseng late at night, risking discovery by Cloud, and only after Duckie, enraged, had chased him around pecking for ages did he finally manage to pluck it out. Such beautiful feathers!

Duckie: Darn that ginseng. I worked so hard to grow those feathers!!

Little Ginseng: Oh, don’t be so stingy! Relax, once that woman wakes up, I promise I’ll let you eat your fill!

"What is it? Let your brother see," Han Hua said curiously, practically unable to contain himself. He reached out as if to take it for a look.

"No way! It’s for Consort Shu. You can’t look at it!"

"Just let me see!"

"No."

"Fine!"

White Magnolia and the Dowager Lady Han watched the two little ones bicker with amused smiles. White Magnolia knew what was in Fortune Baby’s box, but why give away bird feathers?

When they arrived at the palace, they first paid their respects to the Empress, then went on to Consort Shu’s residence. There, Fortune Baby was stopped by a mischievous little princess.

The princess was very cute and liked smiling at Fortune Baby. Yet Fortune Baby always felt that her smile was strange. Seeing the two children getting along well, the Empress let Fortune Baby stay in the sleeping chambers to play with the princess while she went with the Dowager Lady Han to visit Consort Shu.

Fortune Baby dragged the round little princess along, and suddenly felt terribly uncomfortable there. It smelled awful—an indescribable stench, fishy and foul.

"Hm? What is this?" Fortune Baby asked, one hand holding up the princess’s clothes as the child crawled all over the floor, the other pointing at a small porcelain jar.

"Reporting to Miss, this is a little fish tank for the princess’s pet."

"A pet?"

"Yes."

"Let me take a look."

"Hm? Aren’t these tadpole babies?" Fortune Baby stood on a little stool handed to her by a palace maid and looked into the tank at several tiny black tadpoles.

The maid: ???

Tadpole... babies?

"That’s not cute at all. I’ve got something much better!" Fortune Baby said, then pulled out a little gourd she had been carrying inside her clothes.

Sigh. Had the little gourd gotten old? It wasn’t growing taller anymore and was sprouting flowers instead.

Still, it was very pretty.

"No, Miss Bai, you..." Before the maid could finish, she saw several tiny fry spill out of Fortune Baby’s little gourd.

The maid: ????

Keeping fish in a gourd this small?

Fortune Baby watched her little fry swimming happily in the water and nodded with satisfaction. Now that was what a fish tank should be.

"Hm? This water is disgusting. What are these things?" she asked.

"They’re a few little frog babies!"

"Ah ha! Here to steal territory?"

"What do we do, boss?"

"How about this: one for each of us as breakfast!"

"Deal!"

The little fry were discussing how to divide up the spoils, while the tadpoles hiding in the corner trembled all over. Mother heavens, help!

The maid could only stare as the fry devoured the “little pets,” which were more than a full circle larger than their own bodies.

Too terrifying!

"Your Highness, come see. These are the fry I’m giving you. Just feed them a little snack every day!" Fortune Baby dragged the crawling princess back and pointed at the little fish tank.

The princess: Your Highness??

Who was she talking to? Little Li?

Meanwhile—

"What’s wrong with Little Li?" The young crown prince, earnestly reading a book, looked up at the little eunuch who kept sneezing.

"This servant likely caught a chill from the wind yesterday."

"Oh! Have the imperial physician take a look. Drink more medicine."

"..."

Drink more medicine??

Seeing the fry swimming so merrily in the tank, the princess was overjoyed, and the maid beside her finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This princess treasured her little pet dearly. Every time she had to clean the fish tank, she felt nauseous, but because her little mistress loved it so much, there was nothing she could do. Even the Empress could not understand why the princess liked such a thing.

Now things were better. With these little fry, at least it was an improvement over the old one. Only... these fish seemed a little different. What were those two bumps on their backs?

Fortune Baby had just seen a stream of black miasma drift out of the princess’s body.

Then the princess’s eyelids began to droop.

And so—

"Mother—"

Fortune Baby: ??? I’m not your mother!